


Suffering Before Midnight

by AstrallyW, uwudowoon



Category: Die Leiden des jungen Werthers | The Sorrows of Young Werther - Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
Genre: Afterlife, Alcohol, Alternate Canon, Angst, Confessions, Death, Drama, Enemies to Lovers, Feels, Friends to Lovers, Ghost Sex, Ghosts, Hurt, Kissing, LGBTQ Themes, Marriage, Mental Health Issues, Multi, Murder, Original Character(s), Passion, Plot Twists, Plotting Murder, Romance, Sad, Sex, Strangers to Lovers, Suffering, Tags Are Hard, Tags May Change, The Author Regrets Everything, The Author Regrets Nothing, Trauma, Violence, and a big mood as well, elias is a cutie, unsolved business
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-09-11
Updated: 2020-09-25
Packaged: 2021-03-06 22:27:35
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 2
Words: 867
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26406484
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AstrallyW/pseuds/AstrallyW, https://archiveofourown.org/users/uwudowoon/pseuds/uwudowoon
Summary: Werther is hopelessly in love with Lotte. Lotte is happily married to Albert. So Werther suffers, and writes letters to his friend Wilhelm every night before 12 o'clock, telling him of his struggles. Worried sick, Wilhelm decides Werther needs his support more than ever and travels to Wahlheim. Secrets unfold, feelings arise, irreversible decisions are made...
Relationships: Albert/Lotte | Charlotte (Die Leiden des jungen Werthers), Albert/Lotte | Charlotte/Werther (Die Leiden des jungen Werthers), Albert/Werther (Die Leiden des jungen Werthers), Lotte | Charlotte/Werther (Die Leiden des jungen Werthers), Werther/Wilhelm (Die Leiden des jungen Werthers)
Comments: 1
Kudos: 7





	1. Prologue

It was midnight. Wilhelm was sitting on his bed, reading yet another one of Werther’s letters. He felt himself getting more and more anxious as the letter progressed. Wilhelm’s beloved friend seemed to be falling deeper into madness. All he ever wrote about was his love interest, a married woman. In this letter in particular, Wilhelm thought that he sensed a new kind of desperation: Werther pondered that one of the three had to die in order for his struggles to end.

As Wilhelm reread the letter, just to make sure he had understood correctly, his hands started to shake at the prospect of Werther being the one who ‘had’ to die. He willed himself to imagine a world without the other man, how he would never again see his elegantly hand-written letters, how he would never again feel the other’s sturdy presence or hear his joyful laugh. God, he would never again be able to hug Werther, to pull him close and feel his heartbeat!

No, Wilhelm had to do something! Hastily, he wrote a letter to Werther saying he would at once travel to him. He threw on his jacket, grabbed his wallet and the letter, and hurried outside. On his way, he stopped to tell his servant that he would be embarking on a long journey, therefore he is not to be expected to return soon. It was blindingly sunny outside, but it did not bother the man rushing towards his destination with unmatchable stubbornness.


	2. Chapter 1

There were steep hills circling the peaceful valley spotted with trees so alive that the green of their leaves seemed almost otherworldly to the human eye. The sun gave the valley a nod of its approval, of its love, with warm rays of light that hugged the trees and danced on the water splashing from the fountain, giving it the illusion of sparkling. 

Wilhelm ceased to walk for a moment’s time, to marvel at the beautiful landscape before him, recalling Werther’s descriptions of the place, although his words could never have lived up to the actual view. He recalled how Werther had described the valley as his own personal paradise, which shook him awake from his daze; he had no time to waste now, he had to hurry to be by his Werther’s side, now before it would be too late. Although his eyes see an astounding view, his heart can now only see pain: visions of Werther lying in his bed or on his porch, his motionless arms drooping on the sides of his limp body, and a pistol that had fallen clashing on the floor after releasing the deadly bullet.

So Wilhelm shuddered, and he picked up his pace, rushing to Werther. As he finally made it to his door, he banged on it like a madman, desperately hoping that his mind would have erred this time. No answer came, and Wilhelm gave the door his mightiest push, trying to break it free from its hinges. He needed to get to the other man, he needed to make sure his mind’s visions had not come true, he needed to feel Werther next to him, alive! 

As suddenly as a bolt from the blue the door swung open. Werther stood there for a fleeting moment, groggily trying to adjust his eyes to the sunshine outside, before he could recognize the tall man trying to catch his breath. He had no time to say anything before Wilhelm enveloped him in the most tight hug. A little confused, Werther pats his friend on the back. Seconds that feel like eternities pass, and then Werther detaches himself from Wilhelm.

“Wilhelm? What on Earth are you doing here?”, Werther asked, puzzled. Wilhelm’s face morphed into a similar expression.

“Have you not received my letter?”

“No, it appears I have not,” Werther says, quickly recalling all the mail he had received in the past days. “What letter are you talking about?”

“Oh, it is of little importance. It may have got lost in the mail. But what truly matters is that you, my dear friend, are alright.” Although Werther does not quite understand the urgency that seeps through Wilhelm’s voice, he nods, willing to let it slide.

Werther opens his mouth, intending on inviting Wilhelm inside to maybe have a cold beer and a chat, but suddenly he notices movement in his peripheral vision. Elias, the young mailman, comes running towards his house, flailing a letter in the air. In his hurry to make up for being late, the boy almost trips on a rock. For a moment, it looks like he is going to fall over unavoidably, but then he regains his balance.

“Morning, gentlemen! I am sorry, for I am late,” Elias runs a hand through his messy blond hair, his blue eyes twinkling with the spark of youth. He hands Werther a letter that the man immediately notices is from Wilhelm. Elias mumbles to himself something about having all these letters that should have been delivered a long time ago, and takes off running again, this time almost tripping on his own legs. Werther looks at Wilhelm, then at the letter, then at Wilhelm again. 

“Well, shall we go inside?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> so here is the first real chapter :) thank you @Sue_themanagement for your kind comment, it really cheered us up!

**Author's Note:**

> hi :) so this is our first work, but we'll try our best to make it wonderfully cliché. unfortunately, we are university students, so we will not have a lot of time on our hands. we will try to upload as often as possible.


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